Pokemon Johto Journey
by Eventide Oracle
Summary: Meet Grayson and Krista, two trainers who are embarking on a new adventure in a new Pokemon League. Along their way they will meet new people and share in new adventures that will surely make this experience one that they will never forget! Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Pokemon Johto Journey**

**By Pensuave**

Author's notes:

I really wanted to bring about a fresh perspective on the standard Pokemon story by not starting the main characters with their first Pokemon, but rather with giving them histories and having them build new memories off of those histories. I also wanted a humorous group of characters that can lighten up the action aspect of the fic. I hope you all enjoy it!

**Chapter 1: The Journey Begins**

"We have now arrived at Olivine City, all passengers please make sure to take all of your luggage and Pokemon with you," a voice said over a loudspeaker, "Thank you for traveling with Clee-Ferry Transportation, we hope to see you again."

A throng of people ranging from the ages of 13 to 60 exited the ship that had taken them from the Kanto region to the Johto region. Most people getting off of the boat were Pokemon trainers who were concerned with gathering badges from each town's Gym Leader in order to compete in the Pokemon League, a large tournament where the best trainer in each region was crowned champion.

However, on this sunny day on the coast of Olivine City, that was not the case for Grayson and Krista. Grayson stretched his arms into the sky as his pearl-coated Ninetails yawned elegantly next to him. Grayson stood at about 5'10" and wore a gray t-shirt with a black jacket over it. The sun made Grayson squint his blue eyes as he cupped his hand in front of his face when he heard a voice shouting from behind the disembarking crowd.

"Grayson, wait up, here I come!" a girl, about the same age as Grayson shouted.

"Krista, watch out for Nine-," Grayson said too late as Krista tripped over the now yelping Ninetails and landed flat on her stomach.

Krista's long legs were spread out as she paused before coming to terms with her horribly embarrassing spill that she had just taken. Grayson put his hand out to help her up, when Krista's left arm grabbed onto one of the straps of Grayson's pants and yanked him to the ground as she stabilized herself.

"Now, now," a stern voice said, "no fooling around the exit, you two, we don't want anyone falling off of the boat."

Krista whipped her maroon hair around as the sun caught her pale complexion, and stared at the lady with tears filling up in her green eyes.

"I'm so sorry, mam, it's just that I'm trying to enjoy as much as I can since I don't have any money to eat with and no bed to sleep in," Krista said as Grayson got up off of the platform with a look of disgust in his eyes, "My brother and I are simply wanderers with no place to go."

"Oh, you poor dears," the woman replied, "here, take some of this money and buy yourselves a meal. The local Pokemon Center will take you in, if you can find some room, otherwise they are lending out tents which can fold up and fit inside of your bag so that you can camp out. This is the busy season, with the Pokemon League starting tomorrow, and all."

"Thank you so much, mam!" Krista said as she grabbed the money from the woman's hand, "I promise that one day I will repay you!" 

"Don't worry about it, dear," the woman replied, "now get going before this ship takes off again."

Krista turned sharply and ran off of the platform tugging Grayson along as her small Glameow followed alongside her.

"Well that should help us out a bit." Krista said as she counted the money.

"Nice scam and all, but we didn't need the money," Grayson said, "We have enough to survive on, and I'm not your brother!"

"But I wanted to get that really nice pair of cat ear's that I saw advertised on the Goldenrod City Department Store website." Krista replied as she put the money into one of the many pockets of her oversized jeans.

Krista stood a couple inches shorter than Grayson, but she appeared even shorter due to the baggy legs of her pants. She wore a white and black striped tank top which made her torso appear thinner than it already was due to her pants being so large since they held her treasures.

"So, should we grab a bite to eat around here before we head off to Goldenrod?" Krista said as she slung her messenger bag over her shoulder.

"Sure, if we can get a table," Grayson replied, "Since your stunt allowed for everyone to get ahead of us."

"Oh, I'm sure we'll be fine, Gray," Krista replied, "We both make friends easily, so I'm sure that someone will let us sit with them." 

Grayson couldn't refute that point. He and Krista both were rather amiable towards others and enjoyed simply traveling and enjoying their lives to the fullest. Neither of them seemed to care all that much about competition or Pokemon battles, but both of them were indeed trainers. Grayson was known for his fire Pokemon and his warm nature. While most Fire Pokemon trainers were known for their rather aggressive style of battling, Grayson took a much more easy-going approach.

Krista, however, was a little less knowledgeable about her Pokemon, but she knew that she loved them, nonetheless. Her team consisted of mostly all normal monsters, but her most prominent theme was that her team consisted of many feline Pokemon. Krista and Grayson both had strong bonds with their Pokemon, and due to this, they treated their Pokemon with the utmost respect, while receiving the same back from their Pokemon.

Krista and Grayson both were traveling together since they met in the audience of a Kanto League Championship battle. Grayson had complimented Krista on how well groomed her Glameow was and Krista began to give Grayon tips on how to best maintain a Pokemon's coat. From then on, Grayson and Krista were inseparable and they experienced many things while in Kanto. After traveling the surface of Kanto with many exciting adventures behind them, Krista and Grayson decided to save up their money for a trip through Johto. The jobs that Krista had to take to save up enough money were anything but lady-like. One of the worst was working on being a PDA (Pokemon Defense Agency) lab assistant; where she was required to stand in front of a series of Pokemon attacks all day to gauge the intensity of the pain of each elemental attack. Krista wasn't sure what this had to do with a Pokemon's defense given the fact that a Pokemon wasn't being attacked, but it did pay well, and that was what was of prime concern to Krista.

Grayson had a different issue before him. While money was no issue with his family, his strict parents were. They insisted that Grayson never leave the Kanto region under any circumstances, and tried to buy him into staying. While the new entertainment systems and video games kept Grayson in Kanto for some time, his desire to explore a new region overtook him and drove him into leaving. His parents realized that they could no longer keep their son locked in and agreed to let him go to Johto, so long as he called them every time he reached a new destination, which reminded Grayson that he hadn't called his parents when he got off of the ferry.

Grayson reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone.

"This will just take a minute," he said to Krista as he dialed his phone and held it to his ear.

"Give mommy and daddy my love, smoochums!" Krista taunted with a cute face as she looked into the sky and took in the fantastic weather.

Suddenly, Krista saw a large dragon soar through the air with, what seemed to be, someone on its back.

"Woah." Krista mused to herself, "that is amazing."

"Glam-Glameow!" Glameow replied as if it was trying to announce its amazement as well.

"Well, Glow, we made it," Krista said to Glameow, "Hopefully, this trip will give us as many adventures as Kanto did." 

Glameow smiled up at Krista as Grayson returned from his phone call with Ninetails by his side.

"So, do you want to get something to eat now?" Grayson asked in a way that made Krista feel that she didn't have a choice.

"Sure, we can get something to eat." Krista said.

Grayson and Krista reached the local restaurant, "Steel Meals," and saw an enormous line before them. It appeared that the restaurant was just opening and the line was now moving rapidly into the restaurant.

"It looks like we are going to get a table, after all," Krista said with a smile on her face.

Suddenly, Krista received a hard nudge out of the way as two sailors stepped in front of Krista and Grayson in line.

"Hey, those were our-" Krista began until her mouth was cupped by Grayson's hand.

"Don't pick a fight; I'm sure there will still be enough tables for us." Grayson added.

As they reached the front, the waiter that was greeting everyone as they came in said to the sailors, "Oh, you two are lucky, you got our last table." 

"Enough for us, eh?" Krista said to Grayson as she squinted her eyes and said out loud, "Hey, beefcakes, you cut us in line!"

The two sailors turned around as they towered over Krista and Grayson.

"Yeah, and what's it to you?" one of the sailors said, "We just got back from fishing and we want some real food. Magikarp and Crabby meat gets very plain after awhile."

"Umm, Kris-" Grayson said as he tapped Krista on the shoulder.

"Well I can smell that you just got back from fishing, but that doesn't mean that you can just cut in line!" Krista said with a bit of fire behind her voice as she ignored Grayson.

"Krista, you really shouldn't-" Grayson tried again to get her attention.

"Well, guess, what?" the sailor said, "We just did, and now we are going to go enjoy our meal and if you ask nicely we may bring you a doggie bag."

"Krista!" Grayson shouted.

"What?" Krista replied just as loudly as she noticed that her argument had taken herself, Grayson and the sailors out of the line as another group of two walked inside.

"Sorry, everyone, but our restaurant is filled." The waiter at the door said, "Please come back in an hour if you would like a seat."

A sudden breeze kicked up at the rest of the line left to explore the town and Krista was in a shocked standstill as were both of the sailors.

"I tried to tell you." Grayson said.

"That's it!" one of the sailors shouted, "You cost us our meal, you brat!"

"Well you can blame yourselves, if you didn't cut us at least two of us could have been eating right now!" Krista replied.

"I'm gonna teach her a lesson." The other sailor said, "Let's battle!" 

"Fine!" Krista said as she pulled out a Poké Ball.

"Go get her, Dwight!" the sailor said as he and Grayson stepped to the side of the battle.

Krista suddenly burst into hysterical laughter as she said, "Your name is Dwight?"

"It's a family name, now let's battle!" Dwight replied as he reddened in the face. "It will be a one on one match, so pick your strongest Pokemon!"

"I don't need to use my strongest Pokemon on the likes of you!" Krista said, "Go, Persian!"

Krista threw her Poké Ball into the sky and it exploded with a white light as a Persian appeared on the field licking its paw. The coat on Persian was very well taken care of, and it shined in the sunlight.

"A Persian?" Dwight taunted, "Ha! Try this on for size! Go, Pelipper!"

The sailor lobbed his Poké Ball into the air and it too exploded into white light as a Pelipper glided onto the field.

"Your kitty, can't hit what it can't reach," the sailor said, "Pelipper, use Water Pulse!"

"Persian, Fake Out!" Krista replied quickly.

Persian appeared to the left of Pelipper and then to the right and continued the pattern at a rapid pace. Then, before Pelipper could find its target for Water Pulse, Persian leapt on top of it from behind and tackled it to the ground.

Pelipper then twitched on the ground as it fired its water pulse into the sand.

"Ha, Persian's Fake Out made your Pelipper flinch!" Krista said, "Now, Persian, use Thunderbolt!"

"Th-Thunderbolt?" Dwight screamed out as he recognized Pelipper's double weakness to electric attacks, "Pelipper, Protect!"

Persian grounded itself with its claws as it let out an ear piercing screech and arched its back as a stream of electricity sped towards Pelipper, ripping up the earth beneath. Suddenly, Pelipper encased itself in a shield that absorbed the electricity until Persian's attack was over.

"Now, Pelipper, use Tail Wind!" Dwight ordered.

Pelipper opened its wings and a great wind kicked up over the battle field. Pelipper then sped around the field as a very rapid pace and all Krista could see was a white blur all around her.

"This ability increased by Pokemon's speed, so now your Persian won't be able to even find my Pelipper, much less, attack it" Dwight taunted.

"C'mon, Persian," Krista said in an encouraging voice, "We can do this, use Screech!"

Persian aimed its head into the sky and opened its mouth to let out a large screech when suddenly a stream of water shot from a point in the sky straight into Persian's mouth. The attack rifled Persian to the ground as it struggled to stand up.

Dwight laughed at Krista's attempt, "Direct hit, I sunk your Persian!" 

"Persian, we can't wait any longer," Krista said, "Use Shockwave!"

Persian charged up another electric attack and aimed it at the sky as it was slammed to the ground with another Water Pulse. Persian fired the ball of electricity into the sky but it appeared to miss the blur that was Pelipper. As Persian got up from the ground it lost its balance and fell down again.

"Your Persian is confused!" Dwight pointed out, now you have no chance of winning!"

Suddenly, a large explosion of light came from the sky over Krista's shoulder and Pelipper was on the ground as black as charcoal.

"It looks like I got it just in time." Krista winked as she ran over to Persian and gave it a pat on its head as it shook off its confusion, "You were great, Persian."

"Wh-What did you do?" Dwight stood amazed as he ran over to his KO'ed Pokemon.

"It's the effect of Shockwave, it never misses." Krista said, "If you are using a water type or a flying type I think that you may want to know about electric attacks, but if you are using a water b**and**/b a flying type, then you need to know everything about electric attacks."

"Pelipper, return." Dwight said in a defeated tone as he called back his Pokemon into his Poké Ball.

"Persian, return." Krista said as she did the same.

"Well, you might have won this match, but now that I know your trick, I'll beat you another time." Dwight said as he and the other sailor stormed off.

"Great job, Krista!" Grayson said as he ran over to her.

"Thanks," Krista replied, "But we still have nowhere to eat."

"Well, I've got some snacks, do you want to head to the next town and we can snack on the way?" Grayson suggested as he pulled out a map. "It says that a Miltank Farm is just above this town. If we take Route 39, we can get there in no time."

"Actually, I think I may have another route that we could take." Krista answered, "If we go east we can cut through a forest and end up on Route 35, which is right above Goldenrod City. I hear that it is bigger than Saffron and Celadon combined!"

"But what is in the forest?" Grayson inquired with an uneasy look on his face.

"Nothing that we can't handle, I'm sure." Krista smirked as she nudged Grayson, "Besides, I really want those cat ears and there will be plenty of restaurants to choose from."

"All right, let's go then." Grayson said with a smile.

Any adventure was a good adventure in the minds of Grayson and Krista, and they were sure that there journey through Johto would bring them many great times. Little did they know how grand of an adventure they were about to embark on.

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

**Pokemon Johto Journey**

**By Pensuave**

Author's notes:

Currently working on Chapter 3. Should be up within the week, depending on the responses that I get.

**Chapter 2:Follow the Goldenrod Road**

"I swear, if I see another Beedrill, I'm going to lose it!" Krista shouted as lush branches smacked her in the face.

Grayson and Krista had been traveling through the forest connecting Olivine City to Goldenrod City for about one hour and had run into nothing but large insect Pokemon.

"It was your idea to take the woods, I told you that we should have gone to the Miltank Farm." Grayson chimed in, obviously not being as annoyed with their situation at Krista.

"And do what? See some oversized cows?" Krista fired back, "And I'm not talking about the Miltanks…those farmers are fat! I saw a news report on that farm awhile back and they definitely eat well there, I'll say that much."

Grayson gave Krista a stern look as his stomach began to growl again.

"Can I get another candy bar?" He asked. "I'm starving."

"You just had one!" Krista responded, "At this rate I'll need to swindle everyone in Goldenrod out of money so that we can survive!"

"Well, let's start moving faster then, miss 'world in my pockets'" Grayson retorted, "I don't want to be stuck in this forest at night."

"Hey, don't disrespect the pockets!" Krista said, "Their contents may just come in handy. It wouldn't be the first time!"

"Yes, yes, I remember, you don't have to remind me" Grayson answered as he saw Krista's face widen into a grin that resembled the Cheshire Cat.

"Well, I'm just saying, they tend to come in handy." Krista asserted. "Let's get going then."

Krista and Grayson began speeding up their pace as they day went on. The forest had seemed deceptively small on their map but, in fact, was rather large. Tall, evergreen trees surrounded Krista and Grayson which made it rather difficult to notice the time of day, but luckily, a path to Goldenrod had been marked off on the trees so that those who chose to take the route wouldn't be lost in the forest. As Krista and Grayson walked through the forest with Glameow and Ninetails, they noticed an eerie noise coming from inside of the woods.

"Do you hear that?" Krista asked.

"Yeah, it sort of sounds like a whale call or something." Grayson replied.

Suddenly, a large electric explosion burst from their left and both Grayson and Krista ran towards the direction of the blast. As they quickly passed through the trees, they noticed that they had stumbled into the middle of a battle in progress. On one side stood a boy a few inches taller than Grayson with short, black hair who wore a black pair of pants with a black leather jacket and an indigo shirt underneath. In front of him stood an infuriated looking Jolteon that's hair was standing on end as it was obviously charged with electricity. Across the field stood another boy, who looked a little older than his opponent. He was about the same height but appeared taller due to his combat boots that he was wearing. He had mop-like brown hair that spun and twisted into long curls that reached the bottom of his neck. In front of him stood a massive Dragonite that bellowed and stared the Jolten down as steam bustled from its nostrils.

"Well, it's clear who has the advantage here." Grayson said to Krista in a hushed voice as to not attract attention to himself.

"It all depends on who can manage their Pokemon better. If this kid with the Dragonite can't control it then it's 'Game Over,'" Krista said.

The massive Dragonite took to the sky with a single flap of its wings and kicked up a massive wind that blew back its trainer's crimson trench coat.

"You should just stay out of my way next time, you slack." The boy controlling the Dragonite said. "You're out of your league; Dragonite, Hyper Beam!"

The large Dragonite charged a white beam in its mouth as the other trainer stood his ground.

"Jolteon, use Thunder!" he shouted out.

The speedy, Jolteon instantly fired a bolt of electricity at the airborne Dragonite. Right before it hit, however, Dragonite gracefully dodged it and unleashed the hyper beam that had been building up. A white light rocketed from the mouth of Dragonite and slammed into the ground so hard that it created a dust cloud which encased the entire surrounding area. Grayson and Krista were knocked off of their feet simply by being in the presence of such an enormous impact and coughed as the dust settled.

"That was powerful." Grayson stated.

"Jeeze, ya think?" Krista taunted, pointing out Grayson's obvious statement.

After that exchange, the field clearly displayed a winner. The Jolteon was on its side and completely unconscious as was his trainer. However, on the other side, Dragonite descended onto the ground next to his trainer who seemed to not have been affected in the slightest by the impact of the Hyper Beam.

"Dragonite, let's go," he said, "We have better things to do."

The trainer hopped onto the back of his dragon and took off at mach speeds into the sky. Grayson and Krista ran over to the other trainer who was still lying on the ground but who was slowly regaining consciousness.

"Don't move too quickly." Grayson warned the trainer. "My name is Grayson and this is Krista, we saw that battle. Are you alright?"

The boy came to and focused for a minute on Grayson and Krista. Behind his eyes Grayson and Krista could see sadness and disappointment but the boy simply said, "I'm fine. Just a battle, that's all."

The boy slowly came to his feet and dusted himself off as he walked over to his Jolten and cradled it in his arms.

"We must be close to Goldenrod City by now," Krista said, "So we can get your Jolten to a Pokemon Center soon. I think that attack must have really hurt it."

"Thanks, but I'm sure he'll be fine." The boy replied. "This Jolten has been through worse than that attack, I can guarantee you that."

"What did you say your name was again?" Grayson asked, trying to break the somber mood.

"I didn't." The boy replied, "But it is Elliot, if you wanted to know."

"Well, my name is Grayson and this is Krista," Grayson said, "We came from the Kanto region and are just making our way to Goldenrod City."

"Well, it's nice to meet you." Elliot replied. "I'm sorry for coming off as obnoxious; I just can't stand that guy."

"Who was that?" Krista inquired.

"His name is Cane Walters." Elliot explained, "He's your stereotypical loner who thinks he's a genius. He's very popular here in Johto, but I question how good he actually is."

"Well he sure seemed to know what he was doing in that battle." Krista said, "I mean, his Dragonite dodged your attack without him even having to say so. To train a Pokemon to do that is a challenge, but to train a legendary dragon to do that is what some would claim to be impossible."

"I'm not saying that he isn't a good trainer." Elliot responded, "I just think that he needs to learn how to be a good person, too."

"And you honestly think that you could do that with your Jolteon." Krista said with a slight tone of arrogance.

"Krista!" Grayson blurted out. "She doesn't mean to be mean; she just doesn't have a truth filter on her."

"It's fine." Elliot said, "I probably rushed into this match. I just never know when I'm going to see Cane, since he's always on the move, so when I do see him I have to try to maximize on the opportunity to defeat him."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, and if you'd like you could join us on our trek to Goldenrod City." Grayson said with a very soothing and inviting tone as to not ruffle any feathers.

"Thank you, I'd like that." Elliot said as he called his Jolteon back into its Pokeball, "It's boring traveling alone."

The three trainers made their way back to the path and traveled together as they shared a bit about their lives thus far.

"Well I've placed 8th in the Johto League Championships twice now, but I've yet to make the Top 4." Elliot said, "That'll all change this year, though."

"So once you receive all of your badges you automatically qualify for the League, right?" Krista inquired.

"Yeah, I already won all of my badges so I can enter the league every year now, but it doesn't mean that I can stop training." Elliot explained, "If I don't get better there is no point in entering the league at all."

"That makes sense." Grayson responded, "So you've sort of made a name for yourself?" 

"I suppose you could say that." Elliot said, "I just really enjoy the competition."

The trio continued to walk down the path before them until they could hear noise that wasn't of the forest, but rather, of the city. With each step, the group noticed that they had reached their destination. Before them blossomed a beautifully lit city that truly lived up to its name. The buildings were all white and had golden trim coming down their sides. Golden arches adorned the streets and everyone in the city seemed to be enjoying the liveliness.

"We made it!" Krista and Grayson cheered in unison,

"I'm going to get my cat ears, finally, Glow!" Krista shouted.

"Glam, Glam!" Krista's Glameow cheered back as it leapt onto Krista's shoulder.

"I won't die of starvation, Ninetails!" Grayson shouted.

"Nine, Nine!" Ninetails cheered as it placed its front paws on Grayson's shoulders.

"Wow, you two really are alike." Elliot said, "You can tell that you've been together for awhile." 

"Yep, we have!" Krista smiled.

"So how long have you two been going out?" Elliot asked.

"You mean going outside?" Grayson asked.

"No." Elliot replied.

"You mean going out to train our Pokemon?" Krista asked.

"No, I mean going out as in boyfriend and girlfriend." Elliot clarified with a tone of annoyance.

"Are you kidding me?!" Both Grayson and Krista shouted out. "I'd never go out with that!"

Grayson and Krista both stopped and looked at each other. A breeze of awkwardness swept past them.

"Oh, now I get it." Elliot said with a sarcastic tone as he led the way to Goldenrod City. "Let's get going then."

Grayson and Krista both turned with a "Hmph!" and followed Elliot's lead. They quickly made their way from the hills that led into the forest down into the streets of Goldenrod and quickly noticed that it was as difficult to notice the time of day as it was in the forest due to the city lights reflecting off of the golden arches and trim that encased the city. It was like it was daytime all of the time.

"I'm assuming that this is the first time you two have been to Goldenrod, so let me give you the breakdown." Elliot said, "The best place to eat is at "The Growlithe Grill." You'll never have a better burger than what they cook up there.

"Well I know where I'll be." Grayson added with a wide smile overcoming his face.

Elliot continued, "And if you want cat ears, the best place to go is-"

"The Goldenrod City Department Store!" Krista exclaimed as she made a peace sign.

"I see you're familiar." Elliot replied.

"Are you kidding me!?" Krista shouted. is my homepage! I have always wanted to go there!"

"Well its right past the Aqua stage in the middle of the city, as is "The Growlithe Grill." Elliot said. "So I guess we should head that way."

The team made their way past the blinding lights and varied noises of the city as they took part in the atmosphere of it all. They seemed to quickly reach the Aqua Stage which was a gigantic underground pool that was only slightly elevated and obviously was an attraction of the city. It seemed, however, that there was no show going on at the time.

"Well it looks like the shows are over for the day." Elliot said, "They are usually good, unless Dylan shows up, then they just get crazy."

"Who is Dylan?" Grayson asked.

No sooner did the words leave his mouth that a sound which would change his journey forever entered Grayson's ears.

"Laaaaaapraaaaaaaaaaaas!"

"Oh no." Elliot said. "I spoke too soon."

Grayson and Krista turned to face the Aqua stage when they saw an Azurill's head burst out of the water as it stood proud on top of a boy's shoulders and sang in a high voice while drumming its spherical tail. The boy was a couple inches shorter than Grayson and had a very thin build, he wore a white moto jacket that ended slightly above his waist and had on tight black pants with small black boots. Underneath his jacket was a cerulean blue t-shirt with the Japanese characters for "water" on it. As the boy continued to rise from the water, the group noticed that he wasn't wet at all but was, in fact, encased in a bubble that contoured to his body's form.

"What is-" Krista whispered.

"Don't interrupt it." Elliot said back. "Trust me."

The boy was revealed to be standing on top of the shell of a Lapras that was singing its name as if it was in an opera. After the Lapras had fully surfaced, the boy stretched out his arms and a Starmie jumped out of the water and spun in an arch over his head as it cast water down from all of its points. The bubble surrounding the boy then popped and small flecks of water hit the group surrounding this show.

"Gah!" Grayson shouted, "I hate getting wet!"

"Oh grow a backbone, ember." Krista said sarcastically.

The Lapras leaned its head down to create a bridge from the water to the area surrounding the Aqua Stage as the boy walked down its neck and onto the pavement, still with the Azurill on his shoulder.

"Starmie, Lapras, fantastic show!" the boy clapped as he held out two Pokeballs, "Now, return!"

"I wish this wasn't happening right now." Elliot mumbled.

"Well, hello, Elliot!" The boy said, "It's been so long!"

"Dylan, I just saw you yesterday." Elliot replied.

"Well I see you've made some new friends, why not introduce me?" Dylan ordered.

"This is Grayson and Krista, they are from Kanto." Elliot explained very basically.

"It's nice to meet you both!" Dylan exclaimed as he held out both of his hands.

Grayson and Krista each grabbed a hand and shook it.

"It's nice to meet you, too." They said in unison.

"So I'm sure Elliot has already told you all about me." Dylan stated.

"Actually, we didn't hear anything about you." Krista answered back.

"Elliot, I thought we were closer than that!" Dylan said with a tone of annoyance in his voice. "Well, Elliot and I both attended the same school as youngsters and we shared the same house for some time."

"And you do shows?" Krista asked looking at Dylan with a quizzical gaze.

"Just for some pocket change." Dylan replied, "I'm actually the best Water trainer in Johto!"

"No, you're not." Elliot cut in, "Stop telling people that." 

"Well, I will be!" Dylan said, "Once I win the Johto League Championship title. I just have to get my badge from Mahogany Town and Blackthorn City and I'll qualify."

"If you both went to the same school, why don't you have your badges yet if Elliot has all of them and has already been in the Johto League?" Krista asked.

"Well, some of us would rather study hard and ensure first place instead of charging into such a prominent event as the Johto League and only coming in 8th place." Dylan said. "Twice."

"Hey!" Elliot shouted at Dylan, "I think you're just scared to enter."

"Oh, silly rabbit," Dylan replied, "You know that I'm not scared. I just am being cautious since I don't enjoy public humiliation as much as you seem to."

"Could have fooled me with these ridiculous performances that you throw." Elliot retorted.

"I receive money for those 'ridiculous performances' thank you very much." Dylan asserted. "But I'm not going to fight with you in front of our new friends. I'll just prove my skills to you in a battle during the Johto League finals." 

"Well if you don't mind," Elliot said, "I was going to take Grayson to 'The Growlithe Grill' and Krista to 'The GCDS.'"

"Oh, she wants to go to 'The GCDS?'" Dylan inquired, "That's perfect because I have to go there anyway. You worry about Grayson, I'll take care of Krista." 

"The only person who you manage to take care of is yourself." Elliot responded, "And sometimes I question your ability to do even that."

"Simmer down, Sparky." Dylan said, "I'm going there anyway, and it will give me some time to bond with my new friend." 

"I don't mind, really." Krista interjected, "Besides, Grayson is starving, so you two should go and eat."

"Well if you say so." Elliot said. "Let's go Grayson."

"Alright" Grayson answered, "See you later, Krista. Call me when you're done. Speaking of which, I have to use my phone."

"Give mommy and daddy my best, snookums." Krista said jokingly as she scampered off with Dylan.

"Shut up!" Grayson shouted as he headed off with Elliot.

Just as the two groups split off, the sun began to set, although this journey was far from over.

_To be continued…_


	3. Chapter 3

**Pokemon Johto Journey**

**By Pensuave**

Author's notes:

Currently working on Chapter 4. Should be available within the week.

**Chapter 3: Know Thy Enemy**

"So, any particular reason that you want to go to the GCDS?" Dylan asked as he walked with his Azurill still on his shoulders alongside Krista and her Glameow.

"Yes, I want to get a pair of cat ears that I saw advertised on their website!" Krista said excitedly as her pace slightly picked up.

"Oh, yes, they just got them in last week!" Dylan replied, "I am always in the GCDS when I can be so I'm pretty much up to date on their inventory. Those ears will look adorable on you!" 

Krista giggled with excitement as her Glameow climbed up her back, onto her shoulder, and wrapped its tail gently around Krista's neck.

"So you and Elliot have a bit of a history huh?" Krista asked with a smirk.

"Yes, we do." Dylan replied, "We never really got along, to be honest, with him being the athletic one and I being the studious one, but my family took him in after he was running into some issues of his own." 

"What kinds of issues?" Krista inquired with a look of concern on her face.

"Oh, that's not good shopping conversation," Dylan answered back, "And here we are!" 

Krista turned and looked at the beaming palace of consumerism standing before her. A flashing neon sign that said "Goldenrod City Department Store: Your last stop for everything!" radiated from the top of the building and the main doors were enormous. Krista felt as if she was being welcomed into a palace of a futuristic king, judging by the greatness of this store.

"It's amazing." Krista said with her eyes still focused on the neon sign.

"Yes, and just wait till you get inside!" Dylan said as he grabbed Krista's hand and yanked her towards the doors, "Come on!"

Nearby, Grayson and Elliot sat across from each other at a table in "The Growlithe Grill." Grayson happily chomped into an enormous burger with everything on it as Elliot stuffed himself with curly fries and a chocolate milkshake.

"Thif foo if amafing!" Grayson said with his mouth half full.

Elliot washed his fries down with a large gulp of his milkshake as he replied, "I told you it was the best."

Grayson nodded with delight as he swallowed his huge bite of burger.

"So what made you come to Johto?" Elliot asked.

"Well, Krista and I had already been successful in the Kanto League so we decided that a nice trip to another region would be good for us." Grayson replied, "You know how home life can get sometimes."

"Yeah, I understand." Elliot replied with a slightly somber look on his face. "So you both have competed in the Kanto League Championships?" 

"Yes, I placed 4th and Krista placed 8th." Grayson replied. "The competition is very tough over there, so I was happy with my rank, and I'm sure Krista was happy with hers."

"So you didn't want to continue trying till you got 1st place?" Elliot inquired with a look of confusion on his face.

"No, I figured that seeing a new region would be more exciting than training in Kanto for another year." Grayson said, "Besides, I can still train in Johto while I'm competing in this League. Then when I go back to Kanto I'll be even better."

"Well, the Johto League sure will give you training like you've never had before." Elliot replied, "Some of the trainers here are the best in the world."

"I've heard great things about them." Grayson said, "And now that I think about it, I believe I remember seeing an article about Dylan in the Saffron City Times!"

"Yeah, the little brat hasn't even placed in the Johto League Championships and he got the front page." Elliot thrashed back.

"Well, he must have accomplished something to get the front page, right?" Grayson inquired.

"Yeah, I'll give credit where credit is due," Elliot replied, "He did some really amazing research in the field of Pokemon Consciousness and how humans can connect with their Pokemon psychically."

"But I thought he was a Water Pokemon trainer?" Grayson asked.

"He is; which is what made the studies so impressive." Elliot added, "All Pokemon scientists and trainers, for that matter, know that it takes a psychic connection for a trainer to control and communicate with a Psychic Pokemon; but what Dylan discovered was that this type of communication and training didn't begin and end with Psychic Pokemon. He has that type of connection with **all** of his Pokemon."

"Wow," Grayson responded, "That **is** really impressive. So then I'm sure he's been teaching people how to do that, right?" 

"This is Dylan we are talking about," Elliot said, "He worked with a small group of scientists and the findings in their studies have been kept top secret from the rest of the world. According to Dylan, the findings were so mind boggling that the average intelligence human couldn't possibly comprehend them and would just abuse the ability if they managed to attain it." 

"So Dylan doesn't use the ability?" Grayson asked.

"Oh, no, he does use it," Elliot continued, "Which is what makes him a successful trainer. He doesn't speak a word during battles so his opponent doesn't know what attacks are coming."

"Well that's not very fair." Grayson said.

"If you think about it, he isn't really doing anything illegal." Elliot answered, "He worked to develop this bond of communication with his Pokemon so he should be allowed to use it. It's not cheating, and any good trainer will recognize the attacks of his Pokemon and will be able to handle the battle fine. It's going to be the same as if you were battling a Psychic trainer."

"Hmm," Grayson thought with the initial feeling of annoyance slightly leaving him, "I guess you're right. Dylan just didn't strike me as that intelligent."

"Well he likes to put on shows and is rather eccentric, but he always took his studying seriously, and he is an entirely different person in a battle." Elliot commented, "It's almost like he is two different people."

Back on the other side of the city a different type of conversation was taking place.

"They look fantastic!" Krista shouted out loud in the Goldenrod City Department Store as she gazed into a mirror with her cat ears now on top of her head.

"Aww, cute!" Dylan replied as he whipped out his digital camera and took a picture. "I have to save that one!"

"Thanks so much for helping me find these," Krista said to Dylan, "I would have gotten lost in here if I was alone."

"Oh, don't worry about it," Dylan said, "Do you mind if I went upstairs for a second to the book floor?"

"No, I don't mind at all." Krista said, "I can spend some more time here."

"Ok, I'll be back in a little bit," Dylan said, "I've just got to pick up a few small things that I had ordered."

Dylan ran off upstairs with his Azurill still on his shoulders. Krista looked around the store and saw many different shirts, messenger bags, mugs, and other memorabilia that was plastered with the phrase "Goldenrod City: Heaven on Earth." Krista made her way to the registers at the front of the level that she was on and noticed a stack of pictures on the counter. Before her, Krista saw 8x10 glossy pictures of Cane displaying a slight grin with his signature on them, each one being priced at 25 dollars each.

"Is that Cane Walters?" Krista asked the cashier as she approached the counter.

"Oh, of course it is, dear!" The female cashier with golden curly hair said, "He is the reigning Johto League Champion."

"He's what?" Krista said in shock.

"The Johto League Champion," The woman replied, "I guess you aren't from around here. He defeated the previous champion, Steven, without any of his Pokemon ever being knocked out."

"He's amazing." Krista said. "I just saw him battling today in the forest to the west, and I couldn't believe the control that he had over his Dragonite." 

"Oh, dear, you are lucky then." The woman continued, "Most people don't see Cane outside of at the Pokemon League Championships. He spends most of his time in the mountains of Blackthorn City in the Dragon's Den."

"So then he's the best trainer in the Johto region?" Krista inquired. "I better get one of those pictures then."

"Most would say that he is, but some think that Dylan Wells is the best." The woman added as she grabbed a picture of Cane and placed it in front of Krista on the counter, "Especially after his most recent discovery about Pokemon consciousness."

"You mean, Dylan, Dylan?" Krista said with her mouth opened wide, "The water show Dylan?"

"Well that's just a thing he does on the side for fun, but he's a very accomplished trainer and he hasn't even competed in the Johto League Championships yet." The woman explained. "I don't know how he does it, but he can communicate with his Pokemon without speaking." 

"Okay, I'm back!" a voice called from behind Krista.

Krista turned around to see Dylan standing in front her with two large duffle bags filled with books. He looked back at Krista with a look of confusion on his face.

"What?" Dylan said, "I told you that I had to get a few small things."

"That's 'a few small things' to you?" Krista replied. "You have a library in there!"

"Oh, you silly girl," Dylan laughed "this is only a fraction of my library."

"Well, hello, Dylan." The woman behind the counter said, "I didn't even see you come in."

"Oh, hello, Marie," Dylan replied, "Just picking up this month's shipment. I have some from Lilycove this time!"

"Oh my." Marie replied. "They must be rare ones!" 

"Oh, yes, they are." Dylan said with a large grin on his face as he looked over to Krista. "So are you ready, Krista?"

Krista had been totally sideswiped by the amount of merchandise that Dylan had as well as who Dylan actually was.

"Y-yea," she said with a slight jitter in her voice as she took the cat ears off of her head and placed them on the counter, "I am just finishing up."

Marie took the cat ears and scanned them into the register.

"Did you still want the picture of Cane?" Marie inquired.

Krista blushed slightly as she noticed how big of a dork she must have appeared to be to Dylan.

"Sure, I'll take the picture, too." Krista said as she was sure that her face was now glowing five shades of red.

"That will be 35 dollars then." Marie said.

Krista fumbled through her pockets and pulled out a wad of money. She slowly counted out her money so that she could have a moment to compose herself.

"Here you go," Krista said as she handed two twenty dollar bills to Marie.

"Okay, out of 40." Marie said as she punched numbers into the register, "5 dollars is your change."

Marie took the cat ears and put them into a white, plastic bag. As she reached for the picture, Krista grabbed it off of the counter, folded it up, and jammed it into her messenger bag.

"I'll take that." Krista said.

"Very well," Marie said suspiciously as she passed the bag over the counter, "Here you are, thank you for shopping at the Goldenrod City Department Store, have a fantastic day!"

"Thank you" Krista said as she turned abruptly and headed for the exit. Dylan followed after her trying his best to keep up.

"So, you're a Cane fan?" Dylan said almost excitedly as she chased Krista, "He's a very strong trainer, and he cleans the floor with Elliot every time they battle. It's rather amusing, actually."

"I don't even know him." Krista said, "I just figured that getting his picture would be a good investment if he is as good as everyone makes him out to be." 

"I'm not sure how much you'll get for it now that you folded it in half," Dylan said with a chuckle, "But he is very good. It must run in his family's blood."

Krista and Dylan made their way out of the department store and back onto the streets. As they were coming out they saw Grayson and Elliot walking towards the store.

"Hey, over here!" Dylan waved to the duo, "Sparky, heads up!" 

Dylan heaved one of the bags of books at Elliot who quickly responded and caught them but not without falling right on his behind.

"Oh, are you alright?" Grayson asked as he knelt over Elliot and grabbed the bag of books off of his chest.

"I'll be alright." Elliot said as he coughed and came to his feet with a look of rage directed at Dylan. "Jeeze, Dylan, what the heck are you doing?"

"Oh relax," Dylan said, "I can't carry these all by myself."

"Well maybe next time you shouldn't buy the region out of books." Elliot said, "You probably don't read these all anyway."

"First off, I did buy this region out of books, as far as I'm concerned," Dylan replied, "I had to order these from the Hoenn region."

"Oh jeeze." Elliot said with a tone of disgust in his voice.

"And secondly, I most certainly read all of these books." Dylan answered, "Maybe you should try that sometime, it could help you get 7th place instead of 8th."

"Watch it, Dylan." Elliot said, "You can talk about my rank when you go and do better."

"Oh, why wait when I know I'll do better?" Dylan said with a very arrogant tone. "It's only a matter of time, Sparky."

"And don't call me Sparky!" Elliot snapped back.

"Okay, let's calm down, boys." Krista chimed in breaking up this feud, "Grayson could you carry those for Dylan?" 

"Um, sure." Grayson replied as he held onto the large bags filled with books.

"So shall we go back to my apartment and drop these books off?" Dylan suggested, "I have room for all of you to stay, if Elliot and Grayson don't mind sharing a pull out bed. I recommend that over staying in a Pokemon Center. They tend to get crowded during the first few days of the Johto League."

"Oh, sure, thanks!" Krista said, "Lead the way!"

"Alright!" Dylan cheered. "Let's go!" 

Dylan walked north from the Department Store and after about 5 minutes, the group reached a rather nice apartment building complex. The outside was all white brick and gold doors adorned the outside.

"I'm on the top floor." Dylan said as he pointed to a set of windows on the top of the building.

"Hey, water boy!" a voice called out from the group's right.

Dylan turned to the right with a look of annoyance on his face. Before him stood a rather large boy with short brown hair and a simple green t-shirt and jeans on. The boy emitted an air of arrogance that even surpassed Dylan's which made Grayson, Krista, and Elliot take a few steps back.

"What do you want today, Doug?" Dylan asked as he stepped forward.

"You know what I want!" Doug replied, "I want a battle right now! I am not going to lose this time."

"Oh, Doug, let's make this quick, I have guests to care for." Dylan replied.

"It will be quick, don't worry!" Doug shouted back as he whipped a Pokeball from a holster on his belt, "I'm going to win very quickly!"

Elliot, Grayson, and Krista, took a few more steps back to make room for the impending battle that was going to take place.

"Go, Yanma!" The boy screamed as he threw the Pokeball and a large dragonfly materialized on the field. Its face burnt with determination and mirrored the look that was on Doug's face.

"Getting new Pokemon doesn't solve your problem, Doug." Dylan said while pulling a Pokeball from his holder, "You need to learn how to use them, first."

"Save the guidance for someone who cares!" Doug snapped back.

"Very well." Dylan said as he gently lobbed his Pokeball, "Come on out, Quagsire."

A short, blue creature materialized before Dylan. It had a purple squiggly area on its back that a blue fin sprouted out from. It had a rather calm look on its face as it sized up its opponent.

"This one will be quick!" Doug shouted, "Yanma, use Giga Drain!"

Yanma soared gracefully through the air as it began to glow a neon shade of green. Dylan didn't say a word and only slightly squinted his eyes and Quagsire encased itself in a white barrier. The green energy emitting from Yanma made contact with the shield surrounding Quagsire which seemed to be making Quagsire impervious to any damage.

"He really can communicate with his Pokemon without speaking." Grayson and Krista said.

"Yep, this match is over." Elliot said.

"Stop cheating!" Doug shouted at Dylan.

"This is skill." Dylan said with an eerie calm taking him over. "And you're done."

Quagsire then opened its mouth, as the white shield surrounding it disappeared, and fired a light blue beam at the red dragonfly which pounded into the insect and knocked it into Doug's chest. Doug fell backwards to the ground and he noticed that his Yanma was knocked out.

"I win." Dylan said while holding out his Pokeball, "Nice job, Quagsire, return."

"This isn't over!" Doug said as tears filled his eyes and he ran off with his unconscious Yanma.

Dylan turned around to face the group that, Elliot aside, was staring at him with their mouths wide open.

"That was amazing!" Krista cheered. "How do you do that?"

"Oh, a magician never tells his secrets." Dylan said with a smirk, obviously returning to his normal mind frame, "Now, let's go and relax."

Suddenly the windows shattered from the top floor and out flew a large dragon with a person on its back. The group ducked and covered their heads as glass rained down on them.

"It's about time that he showed up." Dylan said standing up and looking at the trainer in the sky.

"Who?" Grayson asked.

"That was Cane." Dylan said as he watched the dragon fly away into the night sky, "He came for my research.

_To be continued…_


	4. Chapter 4

**Pokemon Johto Journey**

**By Pensuave**

Author's notes:

Currently working on Chapter 5. Should be available within the week.

**Chapter 4: Let the Real Journey Begin**

"That jerk," Elliot commented as he clenched his fists, "I should have electrocuted him right out of the sky."

"Let's go after him!" Grayson shouted.

"Don't worry about it." Dylan said as he composed himself and smirked. "He'll be back."

"What do you mean?" Grayson asked.

"He tried to steal my research, but I'll assure you that he grabbed the wrong documents." Dylan said, "It won't be apparent to him until a bit later, so he shouldn't be back for at least a few days. Let's go upstairs and clean up his mess."

The four made their way up to the top floor and Dylan swiped a pass card into a panel outside of his apartment that unlocked the door before them. Krista braced herself because she thought that she was about to walk into a disaster area due to the break in, but was surprised by the neatness of the interior. Large bookshelves stood upright and were filled with books ranging from 'Pokemon Consciousness' to 'Pokemon Myths and Legends.' However, when she looked over at Dylan's face she saw nothing but panic.

"Are you alright?" Grayson asked Dylan's also realizing the look on his face.

Dylan didn't respond and instead went over to his bookcase that was in the far right corner of the main area of his apartment. Dylan slowly brought his hand across the shelf and gently placed it over a book that was tilted outward from the shelf. He ran to the side of the bookcase and pulled lightly as the bookcase swung open and revealed a small hidden room that contained in it a small safe which was wide open with nothing inside. Dylan fell to his knees in front of the open safe as he punched the floor with his fist.

"Dylan, what's the matter?" Krista said as she cautiously walked over to him.

"He got my research." Dylan said, "He knew exactly where it was."

"But how?" Elliot shouted, "How would he have known?"

"I don't know, but he did." Dylan said. "He must have people in high places."

"Well what are you going to do?" Grayson inquired noticing the frustration overcoming the entire room.

"I'm going to do the only thing that I can do, of course." Dylan said, "I'm going to get it back."

"Oh, give me a break." Elliot said, "You're going to go to the Dragon's Den and just stroll up to Cane and ask for your research back?"

"Nobody will be able to stop me." Dylan said with a very serious tone taking him over. "This research is worth dying for. I can't let just anyone have it."

"You'll never get it back." Elliot said, "Don't be stupid."

"If it was your research you would know what I meant when I said that it was worth dying for." Dylan replied, "Learning how to talk to Pokemon psychically wasn't all that I learned and if placed in the wrong hands, could mean trouble for every trainer and every Pokemon on this planet."

"Dylan, I know what you mean," Krista said, "And I want to help."

"Then don't follow me." Dylan replied. "I don't want any of you involved in this."

"I'm going with you." Elliot said, "He's too tough to take on alone."

"You'll stay here and do me a favor." Dylan commanded, "I want you to take Azurill to a trainer on Route 36, east of the National Park. His name is Charles Whitely and he runs a fantastic Daycare Center for Pokemon. He's a bit hard of hearing, so you'll have to speak loudly but give him Azurill to watch over. I don't want Azurill to get involved in this mess."

Elliot looked at Dylan with a very powerful force behind his eyes and Dylan gazed back with a look of fierce determination.

"Alright." Elliot said. "I'll do it."

Dylan took Azurill off of his shoulder and held it in front of him. Dylan looked into the eye s of his Azurill and Krista noticed that Dylan was on the verge of tears as Azurill stared back. It was obvious that there was a conversation going on between the two but Dylan was using this as an opportunity to say goodbye without everyone else having to hear it. While there were no words being said, the group felt the amount of emotion in the room and all got slightly choked up by this scene.

"Alright, Elliot, take Azurill." Dylan said as he handed the small cerulean Pokemon to him.

Elliot grabbed Azurill and held him in his arms. Azurill, however, seemed to be rather upset by this whole ordeal as a few small tears fell from its eyes. Dylan then went into another room and came back out with a Pokeball in his hand.

"Cane may have gotten my research, but at least he didn't get my transportation." Dylan said as he held out the Pokeball before him, "Come out, Xatu!"

A green bird that stood about a foot shorter than Dylan appeared before them with white wings which were very stiff and looked more like wood than anything else. It hardly moved or showed any emotion which made it look even more like some sort of Aztec statue than it already did.

"I'll be fine." Dylan said once more to Elliot who still looked on with concern.

Dylan looked at Xatu and Xatu opened its wings as Dylan climbed on its back.

"You are all welcome to stay here for as long as you'd like. Just don't touch any books." Dylan explained with a forced wink as his eyes once again caught those of the sobbing Azurill.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Krista asked once more as Dylan approached the shattered window.

"I'll be fine, and I'll make Cane pay for this." Dylan said, "Everything will be okay. Azurill, I'll try to keep in touch, alright?"

"Zurr-Azurr." Azurill replied as it began to compose itself.

Dylan then took off out of the open window on the back of his Xatu who soared through the night sky without once flapping its wings. The three remaining trainers looked at each other with equally nervous expressions for Dylan's well-being.

"Azurrr!" Azurill cried out into the sky at an attempt to vocalize what may have been its final farewell to its trainer.

"It's okay, Azurill," Elliot said as he patted Azurill on its head, "He'll be back before you know it. You know he wouldn't lie to you."

"Yeah," Krista added, "and besides, we are going to have a great trip to go on tomorrow. Consider this a little vacation for you."

"Azurr-Zurr!" The Azurill shouted happily. It seemed that this Pokemon couldn't be upset for too long since it thoroughly enjoyed adventure and trusted in its trainer's skills.

"So, should we just stay here then?" Grayson inquired.

"Yeah, I'll pull out the couch." Elliot said, "Grayson, you can sleep in Dylan's room, Krista there is a guest room next to Dylan's room that is all yours."

"Oh, it's okay Elliot, you can take Dylan's room." Grayson replied, "I don't mind sleeping on the pull out."

"No, I want to stay out here." Elliot explained, "Just in case anyone else decides to stop by tonight."

Grayson didn't question Elliot at this time for a couple of reasons; one being that he didn't want to worry about fending off intruders and the other being that he didn't dare question the intensity behind Elliot's eyes at this moment.

"Oh, alright." Grayson responded, "I'm really tired, so I'm going to head off to bed."

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea," Krista said, "We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

The three trainers each went to their assigned sleeping areas, but while they slept separately, the question running through their minds was the same; would Dylan ever return?

The next morning, the sounds of the city woke everyone up early. Due to the main room missing a window, there was nothing to keep the sounds of the city outdoors. Luckily, for Elliot's sake, the weather was warmer, so he didn't become cold during the night. Grayson was the first to get up and make his way into the main space where he saw Elliot slowly getting out of bed.

"Good morning," Grayson said as cheerfully as he possibly could in an attempt to overshadow the previous night's events. Ninetails slowly followed in Dylan's footsteps.

"Good morning," Elliot responded shaking the slight grogginess from his voice. Azurill popped out of the bed with energy and life as it called out to Grayson.

"Good morning to you, too, Azurill." Grayson responded with a smile, relieved that Azurill had begun to take Dylan's sudden departure better.

"So, you're ready for today?" Elliot asked Grayson as he put on his jacket.

"Yeah, as ready as I'll ever be, I guess." Grayson replied with a smirk. "I'm just excited to explore."

Suddenly, Grayson was kicked to the ground by a flying high kick that came from behind him. 

"Gooooood Morning, kids!" Krista shouted as she stood on top of Grayson's back.

"Gph Mrnif." Grayson choked out as his face was buried in the carpet.

Krista hopped off of Grayson and yanked him up by his shoulders.

"Someone's energetic." Elliot stated after witnessing Krista's improvised assault on Grayson.

"Well we have a big day in front of us; we may as well be energized!" Krista said in response as her Glameow rubbed against her leg.

"Well I'll cook us come breakfast" Grayson said rubbing off the pain from Krista's impact, "We might as well eat here; it is a free meal, after all."

The group sat around the kitchen table and enjoyed a meal of scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast. After finishing, they all talked about how they were going to get to the Pokemon Daycare since they agreed that should be their first stop.

"Well we are going to have to go through the National Park and then we can head east from there," Elliot explained, "It shouldn't take us too long."

"Well, shall we get going then?" Krista advised. "Better sooner than later, right?"

"Sure, let's go" Grayson added as he noticed Azurill's enthusiasm to get a move on.

"Oh, one last thing before I go." Krista said. "Come out, Roselia!"

Krista threw a Pokeball and a small plant Pokemon that resembles an elegant woman appeared. One of its hands was a red rose and the other was a blue one, and a wonderful floral scent filled the room upon its appearance.

"We should patch up that window, no?" Krista said, "Roselia, use Magical Leaf!" 

Roselia spun gently towards the window and a breeze carrying leaves materialized in the room. The leaves were glowing with a white light as they gently patched up the hole in the window.

"That should hold it for awhile." Krista said as she called back Roselia into its Pokeball, "Nice work, Roselia!"

The three trainers and their Pokemon then headed out of the apartment and locked the door behind them. As they made their way into the streets it appeared that everything was running as smoothly as ever. The sun was shining brightly, which was the best look on this luminescent city. The group walked up Route 35 as the sunlight warmed their skin. The air around them had a touch of stickiness due to the humidity, but it was far from uncomfortable given the gently breeze that was present. As they entered the gates of the National Park, Krista stopped dead in her tracks.

"It's beautiful." Krista said as she took in her surroundings.

A lush grass field spread all over and a white walkway was laid down in the circular park. In the middle, a large fountain spouted water three feet into the air which rained back down orbs of water that looked like sunlit gems. A large crowd was enjoying the wonderful weather and some people were training their Pokemon.

"Go, Jumpluff, Bounce!" One of the trainers shouted as a few pieces of his dirty-blond hair fell from underneath his brown bucket cap.

A blue spherical Pokemon with dandelion clocks stemming off of it was gently floating on the field. Across from it was a fierce looking Umbreon that stood tall with its focus tightly aimed at the floating grass type. Jumpluff then pushed itself into the air a little higher as it soared above the field.

"Nice leverage, Jumpluff!" its trainer said enthusiastically as he slid his hat back a little bit to reveal his green eyes.

"Umbreon, use Double Team!" The other trainer shouted as he whipped back his shoulder length black hair that contrasted greatly with his milky white complexion.

The black dog split into 20 copies of itself and surrounded the field in a circle. The copies were so well made that it was impossible to tell the difference between them. The boy in charge of the Jumpluff, standing slightly shorter than Grayson, slid up the sleeves of his brown jacket and white hooded shirt that was layered underneath. 

"Alright, Jumpluff," the boy said, "Try to use Bounce!"

The Jumpluff slowly began its decent onto one of the Umbreon figures that were standing motionless on the field. The Jumpluff landed on one of the figures but merely fell through it as the illusions disappeared to reveal the actual Umbreon which was standing opposite of Jumpluff.

"You almost had it, Jumpluff!" the trainer shouted.

"Did he see where it landed?" Krista asked Grayson, "It couldn't have been farther off."

"The power of positive thinking, maybe?" Grayson added.

"Alright, Umbreon," the other trainer ordered, "Use Toxic!"

Umbreon opened its mouth and coughed up large violet ooze that rifled at Jumpluff soaking it completely. Jumpluff was weighted to the ground by the mass of the sludge.

"Oh, no!" Jumpluff's trainer shouted as he leaped back in his green sneakers that matched his shin-length camouflage shorts. "Alright, I know it hurts but try to use Entice!"

The Jumpluff whirled around and cast out autumn leaves onto the field. Beautiful shades of orange, red, and brown leaves fell all around the field as even the Umbreon was attracted. A deep green glow then encased the Umbreon and faded away.

"Lowering my defenses won't matter if you can't hit me!" The trainer shouted as he held out his emaciated right hand in a clenched fist, "Umbreon, Confuse Ray!"

Umbreon stood still and closed its eyes as Jumpluff looked on in fear. Suddenly, Umbreon opened its eyes to reveal two purple orbs which Jumpluff stared into. Jumpluff then teetered back and forth as the confusion took effect.

"And now this battle is over!" the Umbreon's trainer shouted, "There's no way you'll get past all of my status changes!"

"It doesn't look good for him." Elliot pointed out, "Umbreons that are trained to specialize in status changes can become very annoying in battles."

"I'm not a Pokemon Breeder for nothing, mister emo-pants!" the Jumpluff trainer shouted back, "Jumpluff, use Aromatherapy!"

Jumpluff spun around and fought through its confusion enough to unleash a wonderful scent that cut through the stench of the violet ooze that it had been covered in. The aroma disintegrated the toxic sludge that had encased it and the confusion which it was under seemed to have disappeared as well.

"Aromatherapy removes all of my Pokemon's status changes and can only be learned through a successful breeding, which I'm proud to say I discovered myself!" the trainer explained, "Now, use Silver Wind!" 

Jumpluff once again soared into the air and cast a blanket of silver dust onto the field that was whipped around by the breeze in the park. The dust sliced at Umbreon when it was blown around and Umbreon seemed to take a serious amount of damage from it. Jumpluff then began to glow for a short period of time in a white light.

"Nice!" Jumpluff's trainer shouted, "Silver Wind increased all of Jumpluff's attributes!"

"Well, just because you got out of my condition changes once, doesn't mean you can do it again!" The other trainer shouted in frustration, "Umbreon use Confuse Ray!"

Umbreon again closed its eyes as it readied its move.

"Jumpluff, now you aren't weighted down by that ooze, so soar high and unleash your Solarbeam!" the trainer shouted as he pointed to the beaming sun above.

The Jumpluff quickly ascended into the sky as it began to take in the rays from above. The Umbreon opened its eyes to once again reveal the purple shade of confusion, and looked into the sky for its target. Upon looking up, however, it squinted at the powerful sun that was in its face.

"My Jumpluff is angled at the sun so that your Umbreon can't focus on it to make contact with its Confuse Ray!" the boy shouted out, "Now it's over, unleash Solar Beam!"

Jumpluff fired a golden beam of light from its mouth down at the unsuspecting Umbreon. The beam made direct contact with Umbreon as it launched the shadowy Pokemon into the air. Umbreon came down with a large crash and laid on the ground unconscious as its trainer cursed in defeat.

"Umbreon, return!" the trainer said as he held out his Pokeball and stormed off, "You got lucky."

"Heh, go run home and listen to some depressing music!" the other boy taunted, "Maybe if you had noticed the environment your status changes you would have won!"

Suddenly, the boy turned and looked at Grayson, Elliot, and Krista who had been watching the battle with rather impressed looks on their faces. The boy's face lit up as he ran at the group.

"Jumpluff, we have spectators!" the boy shouted out as he ran up to the group and quickly came to a halt before them. "My name is Carter and this is Jumpluff, it's nice to meet you!"

"Jum-Jum!" Jumpluff commented in a very high but soothing voice.

"I have to say that was a nice comeback." Elliot said, "I'm Elliot, and this is Krista and Grayson."

"Nice to meet you." Krista and Grayson said together.

"Azurr-Rill!" Azurill added with a large smile.

"Oh that Azurill is very well trained." Carter said, "It looks like it has been bred to have the 'sing' ability."

"How can you tell?" Grayson inquired as he looked at Azurill.

"It's all in the ear size." Carter explained, "An Azurill with a larger set of ears can hear changes in tone better than other Azurills, so people began to breed Azurills with larger ears so that they could be better singers in order to make profit in different types of musical shows."

"Wow, good observation." Elliot said obviously not having noticed that before.

"Thanks, it's just a trait that you pick up when you're a breeder, I guess," Carter said modestly as he blushed slightly, "Sorry for being so timid, I just can't help it when I'm in the presence of someone as successful in the world of Pokemon as you, Elliot."

"That's what he calls timid?" Krista whispered to Grayson as she nudged his ribs.

"Oh, so you've heard of me?" Elliot said with a smile of confidence overcoming his face.

"How could I not have?" Carter replied, "You were amazing in last year's Johto League Championships! I still think that your opponent just got lucky."

"Well thanks for the sentiment," Elliot said, "But hopefully I'll do better this year."

"I'm sure with your skills you'll beat Cane!" Carter added as he focused on Grayson and Krista, "So you both are competing as well?"

"Yes, we hope to." Grayson explained, "We have to get our badges, though. We plan on working at that after we drop off this Azurill at the Pokemon Daycare that is around here."

"Actually, Gray." Krista added, "I think that I'd rather work on some of the beauty contests in the Hoenn League."

"Beauty contests?" Grayson said with a shocked look on his face, "But what would someone like you be doing in a Beauty Contest?"

Krista's right foot seemed to have come out of nowhere as it cracked across the side of Grayson's head knocking him to the floor.

"Pokemon beauty contests, you idiot!" Krista shouted, "I take great care of my Pokemon so I think I might have a shot."

Grayson came to his feet as he rubbed the red mark from the side of his face. 

"Well let's hope your personality doesn't get in the way," Grayson said as he shook his head violently in an attempt to lessen the pain.

"What did you say?" Krista shouted back as she raised her fist.

"Nothing." Grayson said as he cowered behind Elliot.

"Don't put me in the middle!" Elliot yelled.

"Well, if you would like I could show you to the Daycare." Carter added as he tried to break up the rampage of Krista, "My grandfather owns it, so I could even get you in for free!"

"Oh that would be great!" Krista commented obviously letting her mind slip from what she was upset about, "Thank you so much. How can we repay you?"

"Well how about letting me come along with you all on your journey?" Carter asked. "Oh that was too abrupt. It was abrupt wasn't it? And much too aggressive. I apologize!"

"Don't apologize," Grayson remarked as he came out from behind Elliot, "We wouldn't mind at all."

"It's just that to follow in the footsteps of someone as successful as Elliot would be an honor," Carter explained, "and I have to make my way to the Lake of Rage near Blackthorn City because my father is there doing some research of his own that he wants me to help him with. So I'm assuming that is where you'll end up heading on your journey, right?"

"Yes, Grayson won't want to go to Blackthorn first, that's for sure." Elliot said as he directed his focus to Grayson and Krista, "Claire, the gym leader there, is very difficult and so most trainers leave her until the end of their journey and use the other gyms as training for that one."

"Oh, well it will probably be awhile until we get to Blackthorn City, then," Grayson explained, "Are you sure you still want to come?"

"Absolutely," Carter replied, "I have to pick up a Pokemon at my grandfather's Day Care and then I have to watch its behavioral patterns so that I can figure out what attributes of it's that I can enhance through breeding. I attend the Pokemon Breeder's University in Goldenrod City and my senior thesis is based around this study, so it's important that I'm thorough in my analysis."

"Oh, well that sounds important, so we should probably go ahead and get you that Pokemon at your Grandfather's Day Care, right?" Grayson suggested.

"Sure, let's go!" Carter said gleefully as he led the pack towards their next destination with his Jumpluff soaring in the air behind him.

Having picked up a new member of the group, Grayson, Krista, and Elliot traveled along the road towards their next adventure, with no clue as to what lied ahead. Meanwhile, Dylan descended onto the grounds of Blackthorn City.

"Cane, I'm coming." Dylan said as he clenched his fists tightly and headed into the Dragon's Den.

_To be continued…_


End file.
